AN: Hello again, readers
I've really been enjoying writing this story and want to know what you guys think, so if you could kindly review this and send it to me, that would be wonderful!
So… Enjoy!
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Two days had passed since the 'incident' with Hermione and Draco was still waiting for her reply.
Whenever they passed in the halls or during events and meals, he caught her eye, but she always looked away. When he tried to talk with her, she always surrounded herself with those Gryffindor thugs. It was almost frustrating, not being able to have Hermione.
Draco was in the shower of the prefect's bathroom, standing under cold water. Leaning on the cold tiles of the wall, he closed his eyes and savored the unpleasant yet refreshing feeling of ice cold water on his body. He stayed there until his body was completely numb but awake, then reached out his hand to shut the water off. Sighing heavily, he shook out his hair and got a fluffy white towel to dry himself.
What did Hermione think about me? Is she thinking about my proposal? He thought as he rubbed his eyes. His hair was still damp, but he just put on his robes and headed out to breakfast.
When he reached the Great Hall, his eyes immediately searched for Hermione. He spopped her arguing with her fellow Gryffindors at her table. Her eyes were sharp and enthusiastic and her mouth and hands moved expressively. He remembered how Astoria had once looked like that as she laughed with him. She was the only one who could make him truly laugh.
Then he felt a surge of anger as he remembered what his own birth mother had done to his true love, and wanted to hurt her back.
Keeping his eyes on Hermione, he carefully sat at the Slytherin table with his friends and grabbed an apple. He felt a heavy weight on his lap. It was Pansy. She laced her arms around his neck as asked, "How are you doing, sleepyhead?"
She squinted her makeup plastered eyes and slightly opened her lip-glossed mouth. She thought she was sexy but Draco most definitely didn't think so. He uncomfortably looked away as she looked at him from his lap.
Draco finally spoke awkwardly, "I'm gonna go over to Blaise."
Pansy tilted her head and coolly said, "Kay. See ya."
Draco hated how she acted so slutty around him and how she always went all over him. She was so fake, so materialized. He put the apple down on the table, not hungry anymore.
Suddenly, a flurry of feathers descended upon them, bird squawking and human squealing filling the room. A handsome Great Horned owl landed on Draco's waiting forearm with a letter. He ripped open the letter, remembering that just two days ago, a similar day and similar looking letter had delivered a message that had changed his entire life.
It was from his mother. He could almost imagine that curt, careless voice of a woman who thought she was better than you.
My dearest son Draco,
I hope you are doing well. Again I have the most sympathy for the loss of your friend, but I hope you will learn a lesson from this experience and get your life back together. I know that you understand what I mean.
Do well in school, don't hurt yourself too much. Remember, you are a proud Slytherin Malfoy, and you must behave and act like one, and surround yourself with similarly aspiring people. Make good decisions and remember that your mother has very high expectations for you.
-Mother
His hands trembled as he laid down his letter, furious. Even as he grieved in complete darkness and apathy, his own mother had almost literally told him that she was glad Astoria was gone. He took a shaky breath as he tried to calm his emotions. That woman means nothing to me. She cannot affect me, she cannot control me, he told himself. He closed his eyes tight and turned away from the letter that made him so angry. I am weak. So weak that I could break down from the sight of that piece of paper.
Abruptly, he shot out with his wand, throwing every curse, hex, charm he knew at the paper. It needed to be destroyed, annihilated, gone from his life. The letter shredded to pieces, burned to ashes, flew up in the air, and was compressed all at the same time. When he was done, he looked around, standing, and he saw dozens of white faces looking up at him.
"What are you looking at? What is sooooo much better about you than me, so that you can alllll look at me like that? Huh?" Draco shouted, voice echoing through the tense air. In front of him was a pile of dust, the remains of his mother's letter. He was scared of a pile of dust. His spirit crumpled.
Emotionally and physically drained, he sat down in his chair, the regular sounds of happy Hogwarts life resuming.
Chairs rumbled and screeched around him as his friends scooted away from him. He could feel them staring. At least I had someone with Astoria. Now I have absolutely no one.
He put his emotionally barriers up and searched the hall for Hermione again. She was still there, but now with a letter in her curious hands. She frowned as she struggled with the seal, but finally got the letter out.
Draco watched on, not realizing that he was the only one looking at her.
She unfolded it quickly, as Draco had so innocently done earlier, not at all seeing the imminent grief that was about to hit her. Her eyes moved left to right, left to right, left to right.
She turned as white as a paper, and her eyes widened. Draco felt a deep dread in his gut about what had been said on that letter.
Hermione gasped, but stopped midway. Her hands flew up to her throat as she gasped again, again, again. Something was definitely wrong. Her gaping mouth made strange choking noises as her knees gave out, her hands on her mouth, grasping for the table.
Her tablemates started to take notice, asking, "'Mione, what wrong?" "Hermione, are you ok?" "What happening?"
Draco watched in shock, and didn't realized what his feet were doing when he climbed over the table, the Hufflepuff table, the Ravenclaw table, received various degrees of swearing and yelling. He needed to get to her now.
He shouted as he avoided a platter of eggs, "Asthma! She's having an asthma attack!" When he got to where she was, there was a thick layer of curious students encasing her wheezing body. He pushed and shoved through the bodies until he found her, Ron and Harry kneeling over her.
Her face was so pale, her forehead beaded with sweat. She looked at him through blurry eyes and coughed severely. She wheezed out, in a barely comprehensible whisper, "The letter…" He understood what she wanted immediately. He took the letter and shoved it into his robe pocket.
Draco swooped down and scooped her up in his arms bridal style, receiving a chorus of accusations and protests from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Her fingertips were turning blue as she gasped again and again.
When he got out of the Great Hall, he strode quickly, quickly, to find Madam Pomfrey. He didn't get far until he heard two sets of footsteps behind him.
"Go away, Potter and Weasley."
Ron replied fiercely, "You know we're her friends. We should be the ones carrying her to the medical ward now."
This remark threw him over the edge as Draco roughly stopped and faced them. "Shut up! Just shut up! You know, I'm just trying to do something good for her for once and everyone's not letting me!"
Harry and Ron stood in shock, receiving this strange outburst. Slowly, Harry raised up his hands in surrender, and Ron followed.
"Okay." Harry said grudgingly. "Fine, we trust you that you'll take care of her."
Ron interjected, "But if you dare lay a finger on our Hermione, I'll… I'll…"
Harry quietly nudged him, and they let their friend go in the arms of their enemy.
